Storage system and data relocation control device

ABSTRACT

The present invention achieves data relocation in accordance with a user&#39;s policies, in an environment where a plurality of storage devices coexist. The volumes belonging to storage devices A-D are managed virtually integrally. A host recognizes a plurality of storage devices A-D as a single virtual storage device. The user is able to group arbitrarily each volume belonging to the storage system, as a plurality of storage layers  1 - 3 . For example, storage layer  1  can be defined as a high-reliability layer, storage layer  2 , as a low-cost layer, and storage layer  3 , as an archive layer. Each storage layer is constituted by a group of volumes corresponding to respective policies (high reliability, low cost, archiving). The user designates volumes V 1  and V 2  to be moved, in group units, and indicates a storage layer forming a movement destination, whereby the data is relocated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.11/950,008, filed Dec. 4, 2007, which is a continuation application ofU.S. Ser. No. 11/289,277, filed Nov. 30, 2005 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,395,396), which relates to and claims priority from Japanese PatentApplication No. 2005-245386, filed Aug. 26, 2005, which is aContinuation-In-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/975,645 filed Oct.29, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,338), which relates to and claimspriority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-250327 filed on Aug.30, 2004, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a storage system and a data relocationcontrol device.

The storage system is constituted by comprising at least one or morestorage device, known as a disk array sub-system, for example. Thisstorage device provides a storage region based on a RAID (RedundantArrays of Independent (Inexpensive) Disks), wherein disk drives, such ashard disk drives, semiconductor memory drives, or the like, are arrangedin an array configuration, for example. A host computer (hereinafter,called “host”) accesses the logical storage region provided by thestorage device and reads or writes data.

The amount of data managed by businesses and organizations such asregional authorities, educational institutions, financial institutions,government and municipal offices, and the like, is growing steadily yearon year, and storage devices are added and replaced as this data volumeincreases. As the data volume increases and the composition of storagesystems becomes more complicated in this way, techniques have beenproposed for improving the efficiency of use of storage systems bylocating the data relating to various application programs, such as mainmanagement software and database management software, in suitablelocations according to the value of that data (Japanese Patent Laid-openNo. 2003-345522, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-337790, JapanesePatent Laid-open No. 2001-67187, Japanese Patent Laid-open No.2001-249853, and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-70403.)

The respective reference patents mentioned above disclose techniques forrelocating data by copying data stored in one volume to another volume,on the basis of disk performance information and use information.

However, in the techniques described in these references, it isnecessary to relocate data individually, in volume units, and the useris not able to move volumes between freely defined layers, and henceusability is poor. Moreover, in the techniques described in theaforementioned patent references, since data is relocated in volumeunits, it is difficult to relocate data in a group of related volumes,together, in one operation. Furthermore, the techniques described in theaforementioned patent references focus exclusively on the relocation ofthe data, and do not give consideration to the processing afterrelocation of the data. Therefore, usability is poor from this viewpointalso.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a storage system and adata relocation control device capable of relocating data distributedover a plurality of storage devices, in a more simple fashion.Furthermore, one object of the present invention is to provide a storagesystem and a data relocation control device having improved usability,by allowing the data stored respectively in a plurality of mutuallyrelated volumes to be relocated together, in one operation. Moreover,one object of the present invention is to provide a storage system and adata relocation control device having improved usability, by causing theprocessing required after data relocation to be executed automatically.Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of the embodiments.

In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, the storage systemaccording to the present invention comprises: a plurality of storagedevices respectively having at least one or more volumes; avirtualization unit for managing the volumes belonging to the respectivestorage devices, virtually, in a unified fashion; a storage unit forstoring volume attribute information for managing the attributeinformation of each of the volumes; and a relocating unit for relocatinga designated movement source volume to a designated storage layer, withrespect to a plurality of storage layers respectively generated on thebasis of a plurality of predetermined policies and the volume attributeinformation.

Here, a “policy” can be set as desired by the user, and the same volumecan belong to different storage layers. Moreover, the storage layers canbe set in units corresponding to each storage device, or they can be setto span a plurality of storage devices.

For example, storage layer management information containing policyidentification information for respectively identifying each of thepolicies, and layer composition conditions respectively associated witheach of the policy identification information, is provided, and storagelayers corresponding to each of the policies can be generatedrespectively by means of a group of volumes satisfying the respectivelayer composition conditions. The layer composition conditions mayinclude at least one of RAID level, drive type, storage capacity, typeof storage device, and use status.

More specifically, the storage layers are generated in accordance withpolicies defined by the user, such as a high-performance layerconstituted by high-performance disks, a low-cost layer constituted bylow-cost disks, and the like. One or a plurality of volumes belonging tothe respective storage layers may be located in the same storage device,or they may be located in different storage devices.

The policies defining the respective layers are determined by layercomposition conditions which can be set by the user. For example, whendefining a high-performance layer, the user should establish conditionsfor selecting high-performance disks and high-performance storagedevices, as the layer composition conditions. Moreover, for example,when defining a low-cost layer, the user should set conditions forselecting inexpensive disks, as the layer composition conditions. Thestorage layer is composed by means of volumes which satisfy therespective layer composition conditions.

When data in a volume belonging to a particular storage layer is to berelocated, then the source volume and the destination storage layershould be designated, respectively. Consequently, the data in thedesignated source volume is moved to a volume belonging to thedesignated destination storage layer.

The relocating unit is able to relocate the designated source volumes,in units of groups, each group made up of a plurality of mutuallyrelated volumes, for example. The plurality of mutually related volumesmay be, for example, a group of volumes storing data used by the sameapplication program, or a group of volumes storing data forming the samefile system, or the like. It is still possible to group volumestogether, even if there is little relation between the respective data.

The relocating unit can also execute prescribed processing that has beenassociated previously with the destination storage layer, with respectto the moved volume, when the designated source volume has been moved tothe destination storage layer. The prescribed processing may be, forexample, setting of access attributes, such as a read-only setting, orcreation of redundant volumes, or the like.

The relocating unit includes a destination candidate selecting unit forselecting a destination candidate volume to which the storage contentsof the designated source volume can be copied, and a presenting unit forpresenting the destination candidate volume selected by the destinationcandidate selecting unit, to the user; and the destination candidateselecting unit can select a volume having matching essential attributesthat are previously established from among the attributes of the sourcevolume, as the destination candidate volume, by referring to the volumeattribute information.

The volume attribute information may comprise static attributes anddynamic attributes, and prescribed attributes of the static attributesmay be set as the essential attributes. The essential attributes mayinclude at the least the storage capacity of the volume.

In this way, the relocating unit selects volumes which match theessential attributes of the source volume, as destination candidatevolumes. If there are a plurality of destination candidate volumeshaving matching essential attributes, then the destination candidateselecting unit selects only one of the destination candidate volumes, onthe basis of the degree of matching of other attributes apart from theessential attributes. Attributes other than the essential attributes maybe, for example, the RAID level, the disk type, the model of storagedevice, and the like. In other words, if a plurality of volumes matchingthe essential attributes are extracted, then the volume of these volumeshaving a composition most closely resembling that of the source volumeis selected as the destination candidate volume.

The relocating unit may further comprise a changing unit for changingthe destination candidate volume selected by the destination candidateselecting unit. The changing unit can cause the destination candidatevolume to be selected from among the destination candidate volumeshaving the matching essential attributes but not selected.

For example, the changing unit can change the provisionally selecteddestination candidate volumes, in such a manner that the destinationcandidate volumes do not become concentrated in a particular RAID group,or in such a manner that data groups having different use statuses, suchas data that is accessed randomly and data that is accessedsequentially, is not located in the same RAID group. The changing unitmay change the destination candidate volume on the basis of instructionsfrom the user.

The data relocation control device according to another aspect of thepresent invention controls data relocation in a plurality of volumeslocated in a distributed fashion in a plurality of storage devices. Therespective volumes are managed virtually in an integrated fashion, by avirtualization unit, and a storage unit and a control unit are provided.(A) The storage unit respectively stores: (a1) volume attributeinformation containing, at the least, identification information, RAIDlevel, drive type, storage capacity, and use status, for each of thevolumes; and (a2) storage layer management information containing policyidentification information for respectively identifying a plurality ofpolicies that can be defined by a user, and layer composition conditionsrespectively associated with each of the policy identificationinformation. (B) The control unit may comprise a relocating unit forrelocating a designated source volume to a designated storage layer,with respect to a plurality of storage layers generated respectively onthe basis of the storage layer management information and the volumeattribute information.

A further data relocation control device according to the presentinvention is a device for managing volumes belonging respectively to aplurality of storage devices, in a unified fashion, and controlling therelocation of data stored in each of the volumes; comprising: avirtualization unit for managing the volumes belonging to the respectivestorage devices, virtually, in a unified fashion; a storage unit forstoring volume attribute information for managing the attributeinformation of each of the volumes; and a relocating unit for relocatinga designated movement source volume to a designated storage layer, withrespect to a plurality of storage layers respectively generated on thebasis of a plurality of predetermined policies and the volume attributeinformation.

The present invention may also be interpreted as data relocation methodas described below, for example. More specifically, it is a method forrelocating data stored in a plurality of volumes distributed in aplurality of storage devices, to volumes in the same or differentstorage devices, comprising the steps of: virtually managing all thevolumes belonging to the respective storage devices integrally; managingthe attribute information of respective volumes as volume attributeinformation; previously establishing a plurality of policies; generatinga plurality of storage layers on the basis of this plurality of policiesand the volume attribute information; setting a source volume and adestination storage layer; and relocating a designated source volume toa designated storage layer among the storage layers.

At least a portion of the means, functions and steps according to thepresent invention may be constituted by computer programs which are readin and executed by a microcomputer. Computer programs of this kind maybe distributed by copying them onto a storage medium, such as a harddisk, optical disk, or the like. Alternatively, computer programs mayalso be supplied via a communications network, such as the Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustrative diagram showing the concept of an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a general overview of a storagesystem;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative diagram showing a schematic view of a statewhere volumes distributed in an storage system are managed virtually;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware composition of a storagesystem;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative diagram showing the storage structure of thestorage system;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the composition of a storagemanagement server;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of a mappingtable;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of a volumeattribute management table;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of a storagelayer management table;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of acorresponding host management table;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of amigration group management table;

FIG. 12 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of an actionmanagement table;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative diagram showing a general view of the overalloperation of data relocation;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing destination candidate selectionprocessing;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing relocation implementation processing;

FIG. 16 is an illustrative diagram showing an example of a screen forpresenting a proposal for data relocation;

FIG. 17 is an illustrative diagram showing an example of a screen forrevising the presented plan;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a simplified view of the generalcomposition of a storage system relating to a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 19 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of a volumeattribute management table used in an storage system relating to a thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the general composition of a storagesystem according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is an illustrative diagram showing a schematic view of therelationship between a migration group management table and a storagelayer management table;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing destination candidate selectionprocessing relating to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing volume creation processing relating to afifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a further flowchart showing volume creation processingrelating to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is an illustrative diagram showing a schematic view of therelationship between a storage layer management table and an actionmanagement table relating to a sixth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 26 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of a volumeattribute management table relating to a sixth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing data relocation processing relating to asixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing replica volume reserve processingrelating to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing action script execution processingrelating to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a schematic view of an example of statetransitions in a volume attribute management table relating to a sixthembodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Below, embodiments of the present invention are described with respectto the drawings. FIG. 1 is an illustrative diagram showing a schematicview of the general concepts of the present embodiment. As describedbelow, the storage system according to the present embodiment comprisesa plurality of storage devices A-D.

The volumes belonging to the respective storage devices A-D are managedjointly in a virtual manner, and a host (see FIG. 2) recognizes theplurality of storage devices A-D together, as a single virtual storagedevice.

The respective storage devices A-D respectively comprise volumes A1-A4,B1-B4, C1-C4 and D1-D4. Each of these volumes is a logical storageregion established on a physical storage region provided by a physicalstorage drive, such as a hard disk drive, semiconductor memory drive,optical disk drive, or the like, for example.

Here, the respective storage devices A-D may be provided with drives ofthe same type, or they may respectively combine drives of differenttypes. Therefore, even in the case of volumes located within the samestorage device, there may be differences in the volume attributes, suchas performance, cost, and the like.

The user is able to group the respective volumes belonging to thestorage system, as a plurality of storage layers 1-3. For example, anyone storage layer 1 may be defined as a high-reliability layer. Ahigh-reliability layer is constituted by a group of volumes comprisinghigh-reliability drives, such as fiber channel disks (FC disks), forminga RAID1 array. Furthermore, another storage layer 2 may be defined as alow-cost layer, for example. The low-cost layer is constituted, forexample, by a group of volumes comprising inexpensive drives, such asSATA (Serial AT Attachment) disks, forming a RAID5 array. Furthermore,yet another storage layer 3 may be defined as an archive layer, forexample. The archive layer may be constituted by a group of volumesestablished on inexpensive disks of less than a prescribed capacity, forexample.

As shown in FIG. 1, the respective storage layers 1-3 are constituted ina virtual fashion, spanning the respective storage devices A-D. Morespecifically, the user is able to define a plurality of the volumesconstituting the storage system, as a desired storage layer, such as ahigh-reliability layer, a low-cost layer, a high-speed response layer,an archive layer, or the like, freely, on the basis of the business usestandards (policy). The policy can be set independently of thecomposition of the storage system, and depending on the conditions forconstituting each storage layer, a portion of the volumes may belong toa plurality of storage layers, or alternatively, another portion of thevolumes may not belong to any of the storage layers.

The respective storage layers 1-3 may respectively comprise volumegroups which form objects for data relocation. One example is indicatedby the migration group consisting of two volumes V1, V2 in the storagelayer 1. These volumes V1, V2 are mutually related volumes, for example,volumes storing data groups used by the same application program, ordata groups constituting the same filing system, or the like.

The value of data declines progressively as time passes, for example.Data of high value is located in a high-reliability layer and is usedfrequently by application programs. Desirably, data whose value hasdropped with the passage of time is moved to another storage layer. Thisis because there are limits on the storage resources available in thehigh-reliability layer.

Therefore, the user investigates relocation of the data stored in theplurality of mutually related volumes V1, V2, and decides, for example,to move the data from storage layer 1 to storage layer 3 (which is thearchive layer in this case). The user issues a single instructionindicating relocation of the source volumes V1, V2, and instructs thatthey be moved to storage layer 3.

Thereby, in storage layer 3, which is the movement destination, volumesrespectively capable of storing the volumes V1 and V2 constituting themigration group are selected, and the data is copied to these selectedvolumes. When copying has been completed, the data in the source volumesV1, V2 can be deleted, and these volumes become empty and can be reused.

Here, it is possible previously to associate prescribed actions with therespective storage layers 1-3, in accordance with the policies for therespective storage layers 1-3. An “action” indicates a prescribedinformation process or data operation carried out within the storagelayer. For example, storage layer 1 which is defined as ahigh-reliability layer may be previously associated with a process forgenerating a replica of the relocated data. Moreover, storage layer 2which is defined as a low-cost layer may not be associated previouslywith any action, for example. Furthermore, storage layer 3 which isdefined as an archive layer may be previously associated with aplurality of processes, namely, a process for generating a replica ofthe relocated data, and a process for establishing a read-only accessattribute, for example.

If the volumes V1, V2 constituting the migration group are copied to avolume belonging to storage layer 3, then the prescribed actionassociated with storage layer 3 is carried out automatically. A replicais generated of the data relocated to storage layer 3, and the data isset to a read-only status, thereby prohibiting modification of thatdata.

Here, when the data in the respective volumes V1, V2 is relocated, thenthe volumes to which that data can be copied are selected within thedestination storage layer. Each volume has its own attributeinformation. Volume attribute information includes, for example,identification information for identifying each volume a RAID level,disk type, storage capacity, use status indicating whether or not thevolume is in use, the model of storage device to which the volumebelongs, and the like.

It is not necessary for all of these volume attributes to be matching inthe source volumes (V1, V2) and the destination candidate volumes, andit is sufficient for only essential attributes to be matching. Anexample of an essential attribute is the storage capacity, for instance.More specifically, a volume which has a storage capacity equal to orexceeding the storage capacity of the source volume can be selected as adestination volume.

If more than the required number of volumes having the matchingessential attributes are detected, then the degree of matching of otherattributes apart from the essential attributes is taken intoconsideration, and the volumes having attributes closest to those of thesource volumes can be selected as the destination volumes. In thisexample, the volume attributes are divided broadly into two types:essential attributes and other attributes, but the composition is notlimited to this and it is also possible, for example, to determine thedegree of matching between volumes by classifying attributes into threeor more types, such as essential attributes, semi-essential attributesand other attributes, for instance, and applying suitable weightings toeach respective type of attribute. For example, it is possible to usethe volume capacity and the emulation type as essential attributes, andother attributes (such as the RAID level, disk type, and the like), asother attributes (non-essential attributes). Alternatively, acomposition may be adopted in which the emulation type is taken to be anessential attribute, the volume capacity, to be a semi-essentialattribute, and the other attributes, to be non-essential attributes. Ifthe volume capacity is taken to be a semi-essential attribute, thenalthough it is not absolutely necessary for the source volume and thedestination volume to have the same capacity, the destination volumemust have a capacity which is equal to or greater than the capacity ofthe source volume. Furthermore, of the volume attributes, the use statusis an exceptional attribute which is not included in thisclassification; the use status of the destination volume must always be“empty”.

1. First Embodiment

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an approximate view of the generalcomposition of a storage system. As described hereinafter, this storagesystem may be constituted by comprising, for example, a plurality ofhosts 10A and 10B (indicated as “host 10” in the diagram where noparticular distinction is required), a volume virtualization device 20,a plurality of storage devices 30 and 40, a management client 50, and astorage management server 60. These elements are interconnected via acommunications network CN1, such as a LAN (Local Area Network), or thelike.

The hosts 10A and 10B are constituted by a computer system, such as aserver, personal computer, workstation, mainframe computer, portableinformation terminal, or the like. A plurality of open type hosts and aplurality of mainframe type hosts may be combined in the same storagesystem, for example.

The hosts 10A and 10B may be provided with application programs(abbreviated to “App” in the drawings) 11A and 11B (described as“application program 11” where no particular distinction is required),and HBAs (Host Bus Adapters) 12A and 12B (described as “HBA 12” where noparticular distinction is required). A plurality of application programs11 and HBAs 12 may be provided respectively in each one of the hosts 10.

Examples of an application program 11A and 11B include, for example, anelectronic mail management program, a database management program, afile system, or the like. The application programs 11A and 11B may beconnected to a plurality of client terminals located outside the scopeof the drawings, by means of a communications network separate to theplurality of client terminals illustrated, and they may provideinformation processing services in accordance with requests from therespective client terminals.

The HBA 12 is used for transmission and reception of data between thehost and the storage system, and is connected to the volumevirtualization device 20 via a communications network CN2. Here, thecommunications network CN2 is, for example, a LAN, a SAN (Storage AreaNetwork), the Internet, or a dedicated circuit, or the like. In the caseof an open type host, for example, then data transfer is conducted onthe basis of a protocol such as TCP/IP (Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol), FCP (Fiber Channel Protocol), iSCSI(internet Small Computer System Interface), and the like. If the hostcomputer is a mainframe type host, then data transfer is conducted inaccordance with a communications protocol, such as FICON (FiberConnection: registered trademark), ESCON (Enterprise System Connection:registered trademark), ACONARC (Advanced Connection Architecture:registered trademark), FIBARC (Fiber Connection Architecture: registeredtrademark), or the like.

Apart from this, the respective hosts 10A and 10B may also berespectively installed with a management program (not illustrated), suchas a path control program, or the like. A management program of thiskind carries out processing for distributing load between a plurality ofHBAs 12 and switching the path when a fault occurs, for example.

The volume virtualization device (hereinafter, also referred to as“virtualization device”) 20 virtualizes the volumes 330, 430, and thelike, present in the storage system, in such a manner that they appearas a single virtual storage device. As shown in FIG. 3( a), for example,the virtualization device 20 presents a plurality of logical volumes(LDEVs) indicated by the identification information LID001-LID 004, tothe respective hosts 10. These logical volumes are respectivelyassociated with other logical volumes indicated by the identificationinformation PID01-PID 04. A logical volume having identificationinformation PID is a physical volume which actually stores data, and alogical volume which can be recognized directly by the host 10 is avirtual volume.

By controlling mapping between the virtual volumes and the physicalvolumes, it is possible to move data in a manner that is transparent tothe host 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 3( b), if data stored in aphysical volume (PID01) is moved to another physical volume (PID02),then after copying the data between these physical volumes, the mappingbetween the physical volume and the virtual volume should bere-established. Alternatively, by exchanging the identificationinformation between the virtual volume (LID001) and the virtual volume(LID002), it is possible to change the device forming the destinationfor data storage, without the host 10 being aware.

In this way, the virtualization device 20 virtualizes the plurality ofphysical volumes of different types located on the storage system, andit manages these volumes in a unified manner and presents the volumes tothe host 10. As described below, the virtualization device 20 may beprovided inside the storage device, or it may be provided in ahigh-performance intelligent switch. Moreover, as described below, thevirtualization device 20 and the storage management server 60 may beprovided in the same computer.

Returning to FIG. 2, the storage devices 30 and 40 respectively compriselogical volumes (physical volumes) 330, 430, and are connectedrespectively to the virtualization device 20, by means of acommunications network CN3, such as a SAN. The storage devices 30 and 40read and write data from and to the volumes, in response to requestsfrom a host 10. An example of the composition of the storage device isdescribed in further detail below.

The management client 50 is, for example, constituted by a computersystem, such as a personal computer, a workstation, or a portableinformation terminal, and it comprises a web browser 51. The user mayissue various types of instructions to the storage system, or acquirevarious types of information from the storage system, for example, bylogging in to the storage management server 60 by means of the webbrowser 51.

The storage management server 60 is a computer system for managingrelocation of volumes in the storage system, and the like. An example ofthe composition of the storage management server 60 is described below,but it may comprise, for example, a data relocation management unit 632and a volume database (indicated as “DB” in the drawings) 640.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an approximate view of the hardwarecomposition of the storage system, in a case where the virtualizationdevice 20 is constituted by a storage device.

In this embodiment, the virtualization device 20 may also be called thethird storage device 20. The third storage device 20 can be constitutedby comprising, for example, a plurality of channel adapters(hereinafter, “CHA”) 210, a plurality of disk adapters (hereinafter,“DKA”) 220, a cache memory 230, a shared memory 240, connection controlunits 250 and 260, a storage unit 270, and an SVP 280, which arerespectively described hereafter.

The CHAs 210 serve to control transmission and reception of data betweenthe host 10 and the external first storage device 30 and second storagedevice 40, and they may be constituted by a microcomputer systemcomprising a CPU, memory, input/output circuit, and the like, forexample. Each of the CHAs 210 may be provided with a plurality ofcommunications ports 211, and data may be exchanged independently andrespectively via each of these communications ports 211. Each CHA 210corresponds respectively one type of communications protocol, and isprepared in accordance with the type of host 10. However, it is alsopossible for each of the CHAs 210 to be composed so as to correspondrespectively to a plurality of communications protocols.

The DKAs 220 control transmission and reception of data with the storageunit 270. Similarly to the CHAs 210, the DKAs 220 may be constituted bya microcomputer system comprising a CPU, memory and the like, forexample. For example, each of the DKAs 220 accesses the respective diskdrives 271 and performs data read out or data writing, by converting alogical block address (LBA) designated by the host 10 into an address ona physical disk. The functions of the CHAs 210 and the functions of theDKAs 220 may also be integrated into one or a plurality of controllers.

The cache memory 230 stores write data written from the host 10 and readdata read out from the host 10. The cache memory 230 may be constitutedby a volatile or a non-volatile memory, for example. If the cache memory230 is constituted by a volatile memory, then desirably, a memoryback-up is performed by means of a battery power source, or the like,which is not illustrated. Although not shown in the drawings, the cachememory 230 may be constituted by two regions, namely, a read cacheregion and a write cache region, and the data stored in the write cacheregion may be stored in multi-layered fashion. In other words, sinceread data is also present on the disk drive 271 in exactly the sameform, then even if this read data happens to be lost, it simply needs tobe read out again from the disk drive 271, and hence there is no needfor multi-layered storage. On the other hand, write data is only presentin the cache memory 230 of the storage device 20, and therefore, fromthe viewpoint of reliability it is desirable to store it in amulti-layered fashion. Ultimately, the decision whether or not to storethe cache data in multiple layers depends on the specifications.

The shared memory (which may also be called the control memory) 240 maybe constituted by a non-volatile memory, or it may be constituted by avolatile memory. Control information, management information, and thelike, such as a mapping table T1, for example, is stored in the sharedmemory 240. Information, such as this control information, and the like,can be managed in a multi-layered fashion by means of a plurality ofmemories 240. An example of the composition of this mapping table T1 isdescribed further below.

Here, the shared memory 240 and the cache memory 230 may be constitutedrespectively by separate memory packages, or the cache memory 230 andthe shared memory 240 may be provided in the same memory package.Furthermore, one portion of the memory may be used as a cache region andanother portion thereof may be used as a control region. In other words,the shared memory and the cache memory may also be constituted as thesame memory.

The first connection control unit (switch unit) 250 respectivelyinterconnects each of the CHAs 210, the DKAs 220, the cache memory 230,and the shared memory 240. Thereby, all of the CHAs 210 and the DKAs 220may respectively access the cache memory 230 and the shared memory 240,in an independent fashion. The connection control unit 250 may beconstituted as an ultra-high-speed cross-bar switch, or the like, forexample. The second connection control unit 260 respectively connectseach of the DKAs 220 with the storage unit 270.

The storage unit 270 is constituted by a plurality of disk drives 271.The storage unit 270 may be provided in the same frame as the controllerunits, such as the respective CHAs 210 and the respective DKAs 220, orit may be provided in a separate frame from the controller units.

A plurality of disk drives 270 may be provided in the storage unit 271.For the disk drives 271, it is possible to use an FC disk (fiber channeldisk), a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) disk, a SATA (Serial ATAttachment) disk, or the like. Moreover, the storage unit 270 does nothave to be constituted by disk drives of the same type, and it is alsopossible to combine disk drives of a plurality of different types.

Here, in general, the performance declines in order, from an FC disk, toa SCSI disk to a SATA disk. It is possible, for example, to usedifferent types of disk drive according to the state of use of the data,in such a manner that data which is accessed frequently (data of highvalue, or the like) is stored in a high-performance FC disk, and datawhich is accessed infrequently (data of low value, or the like) isstored in a low-performance SATA disk. A plurality of logical storageregions can be provided in a hierarchically layered fashion in thephysical storage regions provided by the respective disk drives 271. Thecomposition of these storage regions is described further below.

The SVP (Service Processor) 280 is connected respectively to each of theCHAs 210 and the DKAs 220, by means of an internal network CN11, such asa LAN. In the diagram the SVP 280 is only connected to the CHAs 210, butthe SVP 280 can also be connected respectively to each of the DKAs 220.The SVP 280 gathers the various statuses within the storage device 20and supplies them to the storage management server 60, either directlyor after processing.

The third storage device 20, which virtualizes the volumes, is an accesspoint for processing data input and output requests from the host 10,and it is connected respectively to the first storage device 30 and thesecond storage device 40, via the communications network CN3. Thedrawing shows a state where two storage devices 30 and 40 are connectedto the storage device 20, but the composition is not limited to this,and one storage device may be connected to the storage device 20, orthree or more storage devices may be connected to the storage device 20.

The first storage device 30 may be constituted by comprising, forexample, a controller 310, a communications port 311 for connecting tothe third storage device 20, and a disk drive 320. The controller 310performs the function of the CHA 210 and DKA 220 described above, andcontrols the transmission and reception of data between the thirdstorage device 20 and the disk drive 320, respectively.

The first storage device 30 may have the same or substantially the samecomposition as the third storage device 20, or it may have a differentcomposition to that of the third storage device 20. The first storagedevice 30 is able to perform data communications with the third storagedevice 20, based on a prescribed communications protocol (for example,FC, iSCSI, or the like), and it should comprise a storage drive (storagedevice), such as a disk drive 320. As described hereinafter, the logicalvolumes belonging to the first storage device 30 are mapped to aprescribed layer of the third storage device 20, and are used exactly asif there where internal volumes of the third storage device 20.

In the present embodiment, an example is illustrated wherein a hard diskis used as a physical storage drive, but the present invention is notlimited to this. Apart from a hard disk, it may also be possible to usea semiconductor memory drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical diskdrive, a magneto-optical disk drive, or the like, as a storage drive.

Similarly to the first storage device 30, the second storage device 40may be constituted by comprising a controller 410, a disk drive 420, anda port 411, for example. The second storage device 40 may have the samecomposition as the first storage device 30, or it may have a differentcomposition.

FIG. 5 is a compositional diagram focusing on the logical storagestructure of the storage system. Firstly, the composition of the thirdstorage device 20 will be described. The storage structure of the thirdstorage device 20 can be divided broadly into the physical storage layerand the logical storage layer, for example. The physical storage layeris constituted by PDEVs (Physical Devices) 271, which are physicaldisks. The PDEVs correspond to disk drives.

The logical storage layer can be constituted by a plurality of layers(for example, layers of two types). One logical layer may be constitutedby VDEVs (Virtual Devices) 272. The other logical layer may beconstituted by LDEVs (Logical Device) 273.

A VDEV 272 may be constituted by grouping together a prescribed numberof PDEVs 271, in order to form, for instance, one group of four (3D+1P),or one group of eight (7D+1P). One RAID storage region is formed by thecollection of storage regions provided respectively by the PDEVs 271belonging to a group. This RAID storage region forms a VDEV 272.

Here, all of the VDEVs 272 are not actually provided directly on PDEVs271, but rather, some of the VDEVs 272 can be generated in the form of avirtual intermediate device. A virtual VDEV 272 of this kind forms arecipient for mapping the LUs (Logical Units) belonging to the externalstorage devices 30 and 40.

At least one or more LDEVs 273 may be provided on a VDEV 272. LDEVs 273may be formed by dividing up a VDEV 272, into fixed lengths. If the host10 is an open type host, then since the LDEVs 273 are mapped to a LU274, the host 10 recognizes the LDEV 273 as a single physical diskvolume. The open type host 10 accesses a desired LDEV 273 by specifyinga LUN (Logical Unit Number) and a logical block address.

The LU 274 is a device that can be recognized as a logical SCSI unit.Each LU 274 is connected to the host 10 via the port 211A. Each of theLUs 274 can be associated respectively with at least one or more LDEV273. By associating a plurality of LDEVs 273 with one LU 274, it is alsopossible to expand the LU size, in a virtual fashion.

The CMD (Command Device) 275 is a special LU used in order to exchangecommand and status information between a program running on the host 10and the controller of the storage device (CHA 210 and DKA 220). Commandsfrom the host 10 are written to the CMD 275. The controller of thestorage device executes processing corresponding to the command writtento the CMD 275 and writes execution results as status information to theCMD 275. The host 10 reads out and confirms the status written to theCMD 275 and then writes the contents of the processing that is to beexecuted next, to the CMD 275. In this way, the host 10 is able to issuevarious types of instructions to the storage device, via the CMD 275.

The first storage device 30 and the second storage device 40 areconnected respectively via a communications network CN3 to initiatorports (External Port) 211B used for connecting external devices to thethird storage device 20. The first storage device 30 comprises aplurality of PDEVs 320, and an LDEV 330 established on the storageregion provided by the PDEVs 320. Each LDEV 330 is associated with an LU340. Similarly, the second storage device 40 is constituted by aplurality of PDEVs 420 and an LDEV 430, and the LDEV 430 is associatedwith an LU 440.

The LDEV 330 belonging to the first storage device 30 is mapped via theLU 340 to a VDEV 272 of the third storage device 20 (“VDEV2”). The LDEV430 belonging to the second storage device 40 is mapped via the LU 440to a VDEV 272 of the third storage device 20 (“VDEV3”).

By mapping the physical volumes (LDEVs) belonging to the first andsecond storage devices 30 and 40 to a prescribed logical level of thethird storage device 20 in this way, the third storage device 20 is ableto make the volumes 330 and 430, which are located outside it, appear tothe host 10 exactly as if there were volumes belonging to itself. Themethod for incorporating volumes situated outside the third storagedevice 20, into the third storage device 30, is not limited to exampledescribed above.

Next, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an approximate view of thehardware composition of the storage management server 60. The storagemanagement server 60 may be constituted, for example, by comprising acommunication unit 610, a control unit 620, a memory 630, and a volumedatabase 640.

The communication unit 610 performs data communications via thecommunications network CN1. The control unit 620 performs overallcontrol of the storage management server 60. The memory 630 stores, forexample, a web server program 631, a data relocation management program632, and a database management program 633.

The volume database 640 stores, for example, a volume attributemanagement table T2, a storage layer management table T3, acorresponding host management table T4, a migration group managementtable T5, and an action management table T6. An example of thecomposition of each of these tables is described in further detailbelow.

The web server program 631 provides web server functions in the storagemanagement server 60 by being read in and executed by the control unit620. The data relocation management program 632 provides a datarelocation management unit in the storage management server 60, by beingread in by the control unit 620. The database management system 633manages the volume database 640. The web server functions, datarelocation management functions, and database management functions maybe executed respectively in a parallel fashion.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram showing the composition of a mappingtable T1. The mapping table T1 is used to map the volumes respectivelybelonging to the first storage device 30 and the second storage device40, to the third storage device 20. The mapping table T1 may also bestored in the shared memory 240 of the third storage device 20.

The mapping table T1 is constituted by associating information, such asthe LUN, LDEV number, maximum slot number (capacity) for LDEV, VDEVnumber, maximum slot number (capacity) for VDEV, device type and pathinformation, for example. The path information can be divided broadlyinto internal path information indicating a path to an internal storageregion of the third storage device 20 (PDEV 271) and external pathinformation indicating a path to a volume belonging to the first storagedevice 30 or the second storage device 40. The external path informationmay include a WWN (World Wide Name) and a LUN, for example.

FIG. 8 shows one example of a volume attribute management table T2. Thevolume attribute management table T2 is used to manage the attributeinformation for the respective volumes distributed in the storagesystem.

The volume attribute management table T2 can be constituted by, forexample, associating each virtual volume with a logical ID foridentifying that virtual volume, a physical ID for the physical volumeassociated with that virtual volume, a RAID level, an emulation type, adisk type, a storage capacity, a use status, and a model of storagedevice.

Here, the RAID level is information that indicates the composition ofthe RAID, such as RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, or the like, for example. Theemulation type is information indicating the structure of the volume;for instance, the emulation type will be different for a volumepresented to an open type host and a volume presented to a mainframetype host. The use status is information indicating whether or not thatvolume is in use. The device model is information indicating the modelof storage device in which that volume is located.

Moreover, the logical ID is a logical volume ID presented to the host 10by the volume virtualization device 20, and the physical ID is an IDindicating the location of the physical volume corresponding to thatlogical volume. The physical ID consists of a device number of thestorage device where the physical volume is stored, and a volume numberwithin that device.

FIG. 9 shows one example of a storage layer management table T3. Thestorage layer management table T3 may be constituted by associating, forexample, a storage layer number, a storage layer name, a conditionformula for defining that storage layer, and an action that is executedautomatically. The action is not an essential setting and it is possibleto define a storage layer without associating an action with it.

The user (system administrator, or the like) may set any desired name asthe storage layer name. For example, he or she may use names, such ashigh-reliability layer, low-cost layer, high-speed response layer,archive layer, or the like, as the storage layer name. The searchconditions for extracting the volumes that are to belong to that storagelayer are set in the condition formula. The search conditions are set bythe user, in accordance with the policy for that storage layer.

Depending on the search conditions, volumes formed by disks of aprescribed type in a prescribed RAID level may be detected (forinstance, “RAID level=RAID1 and disk type=FC”), or volumes located in aparticular storage device may be detected (for instance, “devicemodel=SS1”). For example, in the high-reliability layer (#1), volumesformed by redundant highly reliable FC disks in a RAID1 configurationare selected. Accordingly, it is possible to compose a high-reliabilitylayer by means of highly reliable volumes only. In the low-cost layer(#2), volumes formed by redundant inexpensive SATA disks in a RAID5configuration are selected. Accordingly, it is possible to compose alow-cost layer by means inexpensive volumes of relatively smallcapacity, only. In the high-speed response layer (#3), volumes createdby striping disks (RAID0) located in a device model capable ofhigh-speed response are selected. Accordingly, it is possible to composea high-speed response layer by means of volumes capable of fast I/Oprocessing, without the need for parity calculations, or the like, only.In the archive layer (#4), volumes formed by inexpensive SATA diskshaving less than a prescribed capacity are selected. Accordingly, it ispossible to compose an archive layer by means of low-cost volumes.

As shown in FIG. 9, by searching the volume attribute management tableT2 on the basis of the condition formula set in the storage layermanagement table T3, a group of volumes that should belong to aparticular storage layer are detected. It should be noted here that thestorage layer and the group of volumes are not related directly in anexplicit fashion, but rather, they are related indirectly by means ofthe condition formula. Accordingly, even if the physical composition ofthe storage system has changed in various ways, it is still possible todetermine the correspondence between layers and volumes, easily.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative diagram showing one example of acorresponding host management table T4. The corresponding hostmanagement table T4 may be constituted by associating, for example, alogical ID for identifying a virtual volume, information for identifyingthe host accessing that virtual volume (for example, a domain name), andthe name of the application program using that virtual volume.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative diagram showing one example of a migrationgroup management table T5. A migration group is a unit used whenrelocating data, and in the present embodiment, a migration group isconstituted by a plurality of mutually related volumes, in such a mannerthat data can be relocated with respect to a group unit, in a singleoperation. It is possible to extract a group of mutually relatedvolumes, by searching the corresponding host management table T4illustrated in FIG. 10.

The migration group management table T5 may associate, for example, agroup number, a group name, the logical ID identifying the volumebelonging to that group, and the name of the storage layer to which thatgroup currently belongs. The name of the migration group can bespecified freely by the user. In this way, each migration group may beconstituted by grouping together volumes storing data groups used by thesame application program, or volumes storing data groups forming thesame file system. Furthermore, when data relocation has not yet beenperformed, for instance, immediately after a new migration group hasbeen established, then there may be cases where a storage layer namebelonging to the group has not been set.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative diagram showing one example of an actionmanagement table T6. The action management table T6 defines the specificcontents of the prescribed information processing or data operationpreviously established for a storage layer. The action management tableT6 may be constituted by associating, for example, an ID for identifyingan action, the name of that action, and the script (program) that is tobe executed by that action. Therefore, if an action ID is previously setin the storage layer management table T3, then it is possible to executea required action by searching the action management table T6, usingthat action ID as a search key.

For example, in the high-reliability layer, an action ID of “A1” is set.The action ID “A1” refers to a mirroring action, and is related withscript for generating a replica of the volume. Consequently, if amigration group is relocated to the high-reliability layer, then areplica of that volume group is generated. Furthermore, in the archivelayer, an action ID of “A3” is set. The action ID “A3” refers to dataarchive processing, and is related with a plurality of scripts requiredfor an archiving process. One of the scripts sets the access attributeto read-only, and the other script creates a replica of the volumegroup. An ID of “A2” in the action management table T6 permits aonce-only write operation, which is known as a WORM (Write Once ReadMany). This action ID is related with script for setting the accessattribute to read-only.

FIG. 13 is an illustrative diagram showing a simplified view of theoverall operation of data relocation. When data relocation is carriedout, the user logs in to the storage management server 60 by means ofthe management client 50, and specifies the migration group to berelocated, and the storage layer forming the destination, respectively(S1).

The storage management server 60 selects candidate destination volumesfor each of the volumes forming the designated migration group (S2). Asdescribed in more detail below, in the process of selecting candidatedestination volumes, one volume to which the data in the source volumecan be copied is selected from all of the volumes belonging to thestorage layer specified as the movement destination.

The results of the selection of candidate destination volumes by thestorage management server 60 are presented to the user, in the form of avolume correspondence table T7, for example (S3). The volumecorrespondence table T7 may be constituted by associating, for example,a logical ID of a source volume, and a logical ID of a destinationvolume.

The user confirms the relocation proposal presented by the storagemanagement server 60 (the volume correspondence table T7), by means ofthe web browser 51. If the user approves the proposal from storagemanagement server 60, in its presented form, then relocation is executedat a prescribed timing (S5). If the proposal from the storage managementserver 60 is to be revised, then the user changes the logical ID of thedestination volume by means of the web browser 51 (S4).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing for selecting destinationcandidate volumes. This process is initiated, for example, by means ofthe user explicitly designating a migration group that is to berelocated, and a storage layer forming the relocation destination(movement destination).

The storage management server 60 (the data relocation management program632) judges whether or not selection of the destination candidatevolumes has been completed, for all of the source volumes (S11). Here,if the judgment result is “NO”, then the procedure advances to S12. Byreferring to the volume attribute management table T2, the storagemanagement server 60 extracts volumes which have an “empty” use statusand which match the essential attributes of the source volumes, from thegroup of volumes belonging to the storage layer designated as thedestination layer (S12).

An “essential attribute” is an attribute that is required in order tocopy data between volumes. If any one essential attribute is notmatching, then data cannot be copied between the volumes. In the presentembodiment, examples of essential attributes are the storage capacity,and the emulation type, for instance. In other words, in the presentembodiment, at the very least, the storage capacity and the emulationtype must be matching in the source volume and the destination volume.

Next, the storage management server 60 judges the number of volumesdetected to be empty volumes having the matching essential attributes(S13). If there is only one empty volume having the matching essentialattributes, then that volume is selected as the destination candidatevolume (S14). If no empty volume matching the essential attributes isdiscovered at all, then this means that data cannot be relocated, anderror processing is executed and a report is sent to the user (S16).

If a plurality of empty volumes having the matching essential attributeshave been detected, then the storage management server 60 selects thevolume having the highest degree of matching of the other attributesapart from the essential attributes (non-essential attributes), as themovement candidate volume, (S15). For example, the volume having thehighest number of other attributes which are matching, such as the RAIDlevel, disk type, model of storage device, or the like, is selected as adestination candidate volume. It is also possible to calculate thedegree of matching by assigning priority rankings to the respectivenon-essential attributes. Furthermore, if there are a plurality ofvolumes having the same degree of matching in respect of thenon-essential attributes, then the volume having the smallest logical IDmay be selected, for example.

The processing described above is carried out respectively for all ofthe volumes constituting the migration group that is to be moved. Ifcorresponding destination candidate volumes have been selectedrespectively for each one of the source volumes (S11: YES); then thestorage management server 60 generates a volume correspondence table T7and presents it to the user (S17).

The user checks the volume correspondence table T7 presented by thestorage management server 60 and decides whether to approve it or torevise it. If the user approves the proposal (S18: YES), then thisprocessing sequence terminates. If the user wishes to make changes (S18:NO), then the user can reset the destination candidate volumes manually,by means of the web browser 51 (S19). When the user has finishedrevising the settings, the processing sequence terminates.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an overview of relocation implementationprocessing. The storage management server 60 (data relocation managementprogram 632) detects the action associated with the storage layerdesignated as the movement destination, by referring to the storagelayer management table T3 (S21).

Thereupon, the storage management server 60 judges whether or notrelocation has been completed for all of the source volumes (S22). Inthe first processing sequence, the judgment result is “NO” and theprocess advances to the next step S23. The data stored in the sourcevolume is copied to the destination volume corresponding to that sourcevolume (S23), and the access path is switched from the source volume tothe destination volume (S24). This switching of the path follows asimilar procedure to the path switching shown in FIG. 3( b). By thismeans, the host 10 is able to access prescribed data without alteringits settings, and without being aware of the fact that the data has beenrelocated.

The storage management server 60 judges whether or not the movement ofdata from the source volume to the destination volume has been completedcorrectly (S25), and if movement of the data has not been completedcorrectly (S25: NO), then error processing is carried out and theprocess terminates.

If the movement of data has been completed correctly (S25: YES), thenthe storage management server 60 checks whether or not there exists anaction that has been associated with the destination storage layer(S27). If an action has been established for the destination storagelayer (S27: YES), then the storage management server 60 refers to theaction management table T6, executes the prescribed script (S28), andthen returns to S22. If no action has been established for thedestination storage layer (S27: NO), then no action is carried out andthe sequence returns to S22.

In this way, the data stored respectively in each of the volumesbelonging to the migration group that is to be moved is copiedrespectively to destination volumes, and the access paths are changed.When data movement has been completed for all of the source volumes(S22: YES), this processing sequence terminates.

FIG. 16 is an illustrative diagram showing a concrete example of thevolume correspondence table T7. The results of the selection ofdestination candidate volumes by the storage management server 60 can bedisplayed by arranging the source volumes and the destination volumes inupper and lower rows, as illustrated in FIG. 16, for example. For eachof the source volumes and the destination volumes, for example, it ispossible to display the corresponding logical ID, the RAID group numberto which the volume belongs, the RAID level, the emulation type, and theattributes, such as the storage capacity, and the like.

The user can determine whether or not data relocation is to be executedby checking the screen illustrated in FIG. 16. In order to change thedestination volumes individually, the user operates the modify buttonB1. When this button B1 is operated, the display changes to theindividual revision screen illustrated in FIG. 17.

In the revision screen illustrated in FIG. 17, the logical ID of thesource volume and the emulation type and storage capacity of the sourcevolume can be displayed in the upper portion of the screen.

The logical ID of the currently selected destination volume, and itsRAID group, RAID level, physical ID, the number of the storage device towhich it belongs, and the physical ID of the physical volume, and thelike, can be displayed in the central portion of the screen.

In the lower portion of the screen, a list of all of the candidatevolumes in the designated layer which match the essential attributes ofthe source volume can be displayed. The user is able to select any oneof the volumes from the volumes displayed in the volume list in thelower portion of the screen. For example, if the results of the initialselections made by the storage management server 60 are concentrated involumes belonging to a particular RAID group, or if sequentiallyaccessed data and randomly accessed data are located in the same RAIDgroup, then the response characteristics of that RAID group willdecline. Therefore, the user is able to revise the destination volumes,individually, in such a manner that the data does not becomeconcentrated in a particular RAID group.

By adopting the composition described above, the present embodiment hasthe following beneficial effects. In the present embodiment, acomposition is adopted wherein a designated source volume is relocatedto a designated storage layer, between a plurality of storage layersrespectively generated on the basis of a plurality of previouslydetermined policies and volume attribute information. Therefore, theuser can define the storage layers freely, in accordance with a desiredpolicy, and can relocate volumes between the storage layers, therebyimproving the usability of the storage system. In particular, in acomplex storage system wherein a plurality of storage devices arecombined, the user is able to relocate data directly in accordance withpolicies set by the user himself or herself, without having to considerthe detailed characteristics of each policy, or the like.

In the present embodiment, it is possible to relocate data in units ofgroups consisting of a plurality of volumes. Therefore, in conjunctionwith a composition wherein data can be relocated between theaforementioned storage layers, it is possible to improve operability forthe user yet further.

In the present embodiment, it is possible previously to associateprescribed actions with a destination storage layer, and thereforeprescribed actions can be implemented after data relocation has beencompleted. Therefore, it is possible automatically to implementadditional services in association with data relocation, and hencesituations where the user forgets to carry out certain operations, orthe like, can be prevented, and usability can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the matching of essential attributes is takenas a prerequisite condition for destination volumes, and the volumehaving the highest degree of matching of attributes other than theessential attributes is selected as the destination candidate volume.Therefore, it is possible to select appropriate volumes for relocatingthe data.

2. Second Embodiment

A second embodiment of the present invention is now described on thebasis of FIG. 18. The following embodiments, including the presentembodiment, correspond to modifications of the first embodiment. Thecharacteristic feature of the present embodiment lies in the fact thatthe volume virtualization device 20 and the storage management server 60mentioned in the first embodiment are concentrated in a single volumevirtualization device 70.

The volume virtualization device 70 according to the present embodimentcomprises a volume virtualization unit 71, a data relocating unit 72 anda volume database 73, for example. The volume virtualization unit 71realizes similar functions to those of the volume virtualization device20 according to the first embodiment. The data relocating unit 72realizes similar functions to those of the data relocation managementprogram 632 of the storage management server 60 in the first embodiment.The volume database 73 stores various tables similar to the volumedatabase 640 of the first embodiment.

3. Third Embodiment

A third embodiment of the present invention is now described on thebasis of FIG. 19. The characteristic feature of the present embodimentlies in the fact that dynamic attributes are added to the volumeattribute management table T2 and the storage layers can be defined bytaking these dynamic attributes into consideration.

As shown on the right hand side, the response time for data input andoutput (the I/O response time) can also be managed in the volumeattribute management table T2 of the present embodiment. The I/Oresponse time can be updated by means of the storage management server60 gathering the response time from each of the storage devices 20, 30,40, at regular intervals or irregular intervals, for example. In FIG.19, for the sake of space, the I/O response time is shown instead of thestorage device type, but the model of the storage device can also bemanaged as one of the volume attributes. Here, the I/O response time isfound by measuring the time period from the issuing of a test I/O untila response to the issued I/O. Furthermore, this I/O response time can beincluded in the condition formula shown in FIG. 9.

In this way, in the present embodiment, since dynamic attributes arealso managed, in addition to static attributes, such as the RAID level,storage capacity, or the like, it is possible to take both staticattributes and dynamic attributes into account when defining the storagelayers. For example, a storage layer where it is sought to achievefaster response time can be constituted from volumes established onhigh-speed disks (FC disks), which are located in a storage device whichhas the smallest value for I/O response time.

4. Fourth Embodiment

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is now described on thebasis of FIG. 20 and FIG. 21. The characteristic feature of the presentembodiment lies in the fact that if there is a change in the compositionof the storage system (if a storage device is removed), then the datastored in a storage device relating to that compositional change isautomatically relocated to a suitable empty volume.

FIG. 20 is an illustrative diagram showing a general overview of astorage system according to the present embodiment. In this storagesystem, a fourth storage device 80 is added to the composition of thefirst embodiment. The fourth storage device 80 can be composed in thesame manner as the storage devices 30 and 40, for example. The fourthstorage device 80 is added here in order to simplify the description,and therefore it is not an essential element in the composition of thepresent invention. The present invention can be implementedsatisfactorily, as long as a plurality of storage devices are provided.

In the present embodiment, an example is described wherein the firststorage device 30 is removed. For example, if the usable life of thefirst storage device 30 has expired, or the like, then the first storagedevice 30 is scheduled for removal. Here, a case where the data groupstored in a storage device 30 scheduled for removal is moved to otherstorage devices 40, 80 (or to the volume virtualization device 20forming a third storage device; same applies hereinafter), will bedescribed on the basis of the illustrative diagram in FIG. 21.

As shown in FIG. 21, firstly, the user supplies a condition formula,whereby the volume attribute management table T2 is searched, a group ofvolumes having a status of “in use”, which are located on the storagedevice 30 that is to be removed, are detected, and the user defines amigration group made up of these volumes. In FIG. 21, it is supposedthat “device number 1” has been set up in the storage device 30 that isto be removed. In the drawings, a migration group name such as“withdrawn data volumes” is assigned to the volumes having an “in use”status that are located in the storage device 30 to be removed.

Next, a storage layer is defined based on the condition of “devicenumber is different from device number of storage device to be removed(device number≠1)”. In the diagram, the storage layer name “destinationlayer” is assigned to the storage layer constituted by the other storagedevices 40, 80 apart from the storage device 30 that is to be removed.The user then instructs relocation of the aforementioned migration group“withdrawn data volumes”, taking the storage layer assigned with thename “destination layer” as the destination.

Thereupon, similarly to the method described in the first embodiment,the data relocation management program 632 respectively selectsappropriate volumes from the storage layer designated as thedestination, namely “destination layer”, for each of the volumescontained in the migration group “withdrawn data volumes” designated asthe source, and it presents the selected volumes to the user.

In this way, volumes having a value of “empty” for the volume attribute“use status” and matching the essential attributes, or volumes having avalue of “empty” for the “use status”, matching the essential attributesand having the highest degree of matching in respect of thenon-essential attributes, are selected as suitable destination candidatevolumes and presented to the user. If the user approves the assignmentof volumes proposed by the data relocation management program 632, thena relocation process is carried out, and all of the data located in thestorage device 30 that is to be removed is relocated to suitable volumesin the other storage devices 40 and 80.

Moreover, in cases where a new storage device is introduced, or where aportion of existing data is moved to a newly added storage device, inorder to improve performance balance, the storage layer “new layer”should be defined on the basis of the condition “device number=devicenumber of newly added storage device”, and data relocation should becarried out by specifying this storage layer as a destination.Furthermore, as can be seen in the other embodiments also, in thepresent embodiment, it is possible for the user to define storage layershimself or herself, to specify a group of related volumes as a migrationgroup, in one operation, and to carry out data relocation in groupunits.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above.It is possible for a person skilled in the art to make variousadditions, modifications, or the like, without departing from the scopeof the present invention. For example, the migration group does not haveto be constituted by mutually related volumes, and indeed, any volumesmay be grouped together to form a group for movement. Furthermore, thestorage layers may also be established by using the storage devices asunits, namely, a first storage device layer, a second storage devicelayer, a first storage device and second storage device layer, and thelike.

Fifth Embodiment

A fifth embodiment of the present invention is now described on thebasis of FIG. 22, FIG. 23 and FIG. 24. The characteristic feature of thepresent embodiment lies in the fact that if the storage layer designatedas the location destination does not have a suitable empty volume toform a destination volume for a particular volume, then a volumesatisfying the conditions of the destination volume is automaticallycreated and the particular volume is relocated by using the newlycreated volume as a destination candidate.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing processing for selecting a destinationcandidate volume according to the present embodiment. Many of the stepsin FIG. 22 are the same as the steps in the destination candidateselection processing illustrated in FIG. 14 relating to the firstembodiment. However, different processing is carried out when no emptyvolume has been discovered as a result of the storage management server60 executing step (S13) for judging the number of volumes detected to beempty volumes matching the essential attributes. In this case, in thepresent embodiment, volume creation processing (S31) is implemented andit is attempted to create a volume which belongs to the storage layerindicated as the relocation destination and which has essentialattributes matching those of the source volume.

Next, the storage management server 60 judges whether or not a volumematching the essential attributes has been created successfully (S32),and if it has been created successfully, then the volume thus created isselected as a destination candidate volume (S33). Furthermore, thecreated volume is registered in the volume attribute management table T2(S34). If the volume cannot be created, then relocation of the data isnot possible, and therefore error processing is implemented and a reportis sent to the user (S16).

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a detailed view of the volume creationprocessing (S31) in FIG. 22.

In the volume creation processing in FIG. 23, firstly, the storagemanagement server 60 selects one storage device from the volumevirtualization device 20 and the group of storage devices connected tothe volume virtualization device 20 (S41). Thereupon, it judges whetheror not the selected storage device satisfies the storage devicerequirements relating to the volume that is to be created (S42).

Here, the storage device requirements indicate conditions, amongst thevarious conditions that define the storage layer designated as thedestination layer, which relate to the attributes of the storage device,such as the model name, serial number, and the like, of the storagedevice (if specified).

If the selected storage device satisfies the storage devicerequirements, then the storage management server 60 determines a set Sof VDEVs which satisfy the essential attributes, from amongst all of theVDEVs in the selected storage device (S43). Therefore, one VDEV isselected from the set S (S44).

Here, the VDEV requirements indicate conditions, of the conditions whichdefine the storage layer designated as the destination layer, whichrelate to the attributes of the VDEVs, such as disk type, RAID level, orthe like, (if specified), and the emulation type of the source volume.

Next, the storage management server 60 judges whether or not the freeunassigned capacity in the selected VDEV is of a size equal to orgreater than the capacity (Q1) of the source volume (S45).

If the free capacity is equal to or greater than the capacity of thesource volume, then a new volume (LDEV) having the same capacity as thesource volume is created within that VDEV (S46), and the successfulcreation of the volume is reported back to the calling device.

In step S45, if it is judged that free capacity equal to or greater thanthe capacity of the source volume is not available in the selected VDEV,then it is not possible to create a volume forming a destinationcandidate in that VDEV, and therefore the storage management server 60judges whether or not there is another VDEV in the set S which has notyet been investigated (S47).

If there is another VDEV, then the next VDEV is selected (S48), and theprocedure returns to step S44. If there is no uninvestigated VDEV leftin the set S, and/or it is judged at step S42 that the selected storagedevice does not satisfy the storage device requirements, then it is notpossible to create a volume forming a destination candidate inside thatstorage device, and therefore, the storage management server 60 judgeswhether or not there is another storage device that has not yet beeninvestigated (S49).

If there is another storage device, then the next storage device isselected (S50) and the procedure returns to step S42. If there is nouninvestigated storage device left, then the failure to create a volumeis reported to the calling device.

In this way, in the present embodiment, in addition to selecting asuitable volume as a destination volume from a group of empty volumespresent at the time that a data relocation instruction is issued, it isalso possible to create a suitable volume forming a destination volume,from unassigned storage capacity, in cases where no suitable emptyvolume is present. Therefore, more flexible data relocation processingbecomes possible.

When the relocation processing has completed, the source volume whichwas holding the data before movement may be returned to a reusable stateby changing its use status in the volume management table to “empty”, oralternatively, the volume itself may be deleted and returned to form apart of the free capacity of the storage device.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a further example of the volume creationprocessing (S31) in FIG. 22. This processing makes it possible to createa destination volume (LDEV) from the empty regions of a plurality ofVDEVs.

In the volume creation processing shown in FIG. 24, firstly, the storagemanagement server 60 selects one storage device from the volumevirtualization device 20 and the group of storage devices connected tothe volume virtualization device 20 (S41). Thereupon, it judges whetheror not the selected storage device satisfies the storage devicerequirements relating to the volume to be created (S42).

Here, the storage device requirements indicate conditions, of theconditions that define the storage layer designated as a relocationdestination layer, which relate to the attributes of the storage device,such as the model name and serial number of the storage device, and thelike (if specified).

If the selected storage device satisfies the storage devicerequirements, then the storage management server 60 determines a set Sof VDEVs which satisfy the VDEV requirements, from amongst all of theVDEVs in the selected storage device (S43). Thereupon, one VDEV isselected from the set S (S44).

Here, the VDEV requirements indicate conditions, of the conditions thatdefine the storage layer designated as the destination layer, whichrelate to the attributes of the VDEVs, such as disk type, RAID level, orthe like, (if specified), and the emulation type of the source volume.

Next, the storage management server 60 judges whether or not the freeunassigned capacity in the selected VDEV is of a size equal to orgreater than the capacity (Q1) of the source volume (S45).

If the free capacity is equal to or greater than the capacity of thesource volume, then a new volume (LDEV) having the same capacity as thesource volume is created within that VDEV (S46), and the successfulcreation of the volume is reported back to the calling device.

If, at step S45, there is not free capacity equal to or greater than thecapacity of the source volume, then the free capacity (Q2) in that VDEVis secured (S81), and the differential capacity (Q3) between thecapacity (Q1) of the source volume and the secured free capacity (Q2) isfound (S82). At this point, a capacity equal to or greater than thecapacity of the source volume has not yet been secured, and thereforethe storage management server 60 judges whether or not there is anotherVDEV in the set S (S83), and if there is, then the server 60 selectsthat VDEV and judges whether or not the free unassigned capacity in thatVDEV has a size equal to or greater than the differential capacity (Q3)(S84). If the free capacity has a size equal to or greater than thedifferential capacity (Q3), then a new volume (LDEV) having the samecapacity as the source volume is created, using the free capacity inthis VDEV and the free capacity secured in the previous VDEV (S85), andthe successful creation of a volume is reported to the calling device.

On the other hand, if the free capacity of the VDEV is not equal to orgreater than the differential capacity Q3 at step S84, then the freecapacity (Q2) of the VDEV is secured (S86), the remaining differentialcapacity (Q3) is found (S87), and the procedure then returns to stepS83.

At step S83, if there is no other VDEV in the set S, then it is notpossible to ensure the required free capacity in that storage device,and therefore the storage management server 60 releases the freecapacity secured up to that point (S88), and then judges whether or notthere is another storage device that has not yet been investigated(S49). At step S42, if it is judged that the selected storage devicedoes not satisfy the storage device requirements, then the procedurealso moves to step S49.

At step S49, if there is another storage device, then the next storagedevice is selected (S50), and the procedure returns to step S42. Ifthere is no uninvestigated storage device left, then the failure tocreate a volume is reported back to the calling device.

In this way, if it is not possible to secure the capacity of the sourcevolume in one VDEV, then a volume (LDEV) forming a destination candidateis generated from a plurality of VDEVs having free capacity.

In step S41 in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, the storage device is selected, butit is also possible to adopt a composition in which the volumevirtualization device manages all of the VDEVs inside the connectedstorage devices, and hence the selection of the storage device in stepS41 is omitted and the VDEVs managed by the volume virtualization deviceare selected in turn.

Sixth Embodiment

A sixth embodiment of the present invention is now described on thebasis of FIG. 25, FIG. 26, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29 and FIG. 30. Thecharacteristic feature of the present invention lies in the fact that,if creation of a replica is included in the actions associated with thestorage layer designed as a relocation destination layer, then it ispossible to designate any storage layer, including the relocationdestination layer, as a destination for creating the replica.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing the association between storage layers andactions in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, ifcreation of a replica is specified in the script, then the storage layerforming the replica creation destination is designated explicitly, byname. As shown in FIG. 25, the storage layer forming the replicacreation destination may be the same as the storage layer designated asthe relocation destination layer, or it may be a different storagelayer.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the composition of a volume attributemanagement table T2 in the present embodiment. In the volume attributemanagement table according to the present embodiment, the use status ofa volume may take one of four states: “source”, “replica”, “reserved”and “empty”, rather than just two states: “in use” or “empty”.Furthermore, a new attribute, “pair”, is added.

The use status “source” indicates that the volume holds user data whichis referred to by the volume host. The use status “replica” indicatesthat the volume holds a replica, which is a duplicate copy of user data.The use status “reserved” indicates that the volume is reserved forfuture use as a replica. The use status “empty” indicates that thevolume is not in either of the three states described above and isavailable to be allocated as a data movement destination or copydestination.

If the use status of the volume is any one of “source”, “replica” or“reserved”, then the “pair” attribute of that volume may have a value.If the use status of the volume is “source” and that volume has areplica, then the value of the “pair” attribute indicates the logical IDof the replica volume paired with that volume. (If the volume does nothave a replica, then the value of the “pair” attribute is blank.) If theuse status of the volume is “replica”, then the value of the “pair”attribute is the logical ID of the source volume paired with thatvolume. If the use status of the volume is “reserved”, then the “pair”attribute is set to the logical ID of the source volume with which thatvolume is to be paired in the future.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a general view of data relocationprocessing in the present embodiment. In the data relocation processingaccording to the present embodiment, the user instructs relocation of amigration group to a prescribed layer (S1), movement destinationcandidate selection processing is performed (S2), a volumecorrespondence table is presented (S3), and the destination candidatesare revised (S4), whereupon, before carrying out relocation executionprocessing (S5), replica volume reserve processing (S6) is carried out.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the details of replica volume reservationprocessing (S6). In the replica volume reservation processing accordingto the present embodiment, firstly, the storage management server 60refers to the storage layer management table T3 and the actionmanagement table T6, and acquires the actions associated with thestorage layer designated as the relocation destination (S61).

Thereupon, it is judged whether or not creation of a replica isindicated in the acquired actions (S62). If creation of a replica is notindicated, or if there is no action associated with the storage layerforming the relocation destination, then it is not necessary to reservea replica volume, and hence the process ends.

If creation of a replica is indicated in the actions, then the storagemanagement server 60 judges whether or not a replica volume has alreadybeen reserved, in respect of all of the source volumes (S63).

Initially, no volume has been reserved, and therefore the procedureadvances to the next step, and one replica volume is selected tocorrespond to one source volume (S64). Here, it is possible to select,as a replica volume, any volume which belongs to the storage layerdesignated as the replica creation target, which has an “empty” usestatus, which has not been selected as a movement destination candidate,and which has essential attributes matching those of the source volume.

Next, the storage management server 60 judges whether or not it has beenpossible to select a volume of this kind (S65). If it was not possibleto select a volume, then this means that it was not possible to securethe volume required for creating a replica, and therefore, errorprocessing is carried out (S67), and a report is sent to the user, Here,it is also possible to create the volume required for creating areplica, by implementing the processing from S31 to S34 in FIG. 22.

If it was possible to select a volume, then that volume is reserved(S66), the procedure then returns to step S63, and similar processing iscarried out until reservation of a replica volume has been completed forall of the source volumes. Here, when a particular volume is reserved,then the use status of that volume is changed to “reserved”, and thelogical ID of the corresponding source volume is set in the “pair”attribute of that volume.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the details of action script executionprocessing according to the present embodiment. This processingcorresponds to step S28 of the relocation execution processing shown inFIG. 15, and it involves copying the storage contents of one sourcevolume to a corresponding destination volume, switching thecorresponding access path (logical ID), and then executing the actionassociated with the relocation destination storage layer, with respectto the destination volume.

In the action script execution processing shown in FIG. 29, firstly, thestorage management server 60 judges whether or not there is an actionthat has not yet been implemented in respect of the destination volumein question (S71). If there is an unimplemented action, then oneunimplemented action is extracted (S72), and the type of action of isidentified (S73).

If the type of action is creation of a replica, then the storagemanagement server 60 refers to the volume management table T2, andacquires a reserved volume that has been reserved in relation to thedestination volume (S74). Here, the reserve volume that has beenreserved in relation to the destination volume is a volume holding thelogical ID of the destination volume as the value of its “pair”attribute.

Thereupon, the storage management server 60 sets up a pair relationshipin the volume virtualization device 20, taking the destination volume tobe a primary volume and the reserved volume to be a secondary volume(S75). At the same time, the logical ID of the reserved volumecorresponding to the “pair” attribute of the destination volume is setin the volume attribute management table T2, and the use status of thereserved volume is changed to “replica”.

Next, the storage management server 60 instructs the volumevirtualization device 20 to synchronize the volumes set to have a pairedrelationship in step S75 (S76). By this means, data is copied from thedestination volume (primary) to the reserved volume (secondary), and thecontents of the two volumes become identical. Furthermore, thereafter,whenever the contents of the primary volume are rewritten, the rewrittenportion of data is copied to the secondary volume, and hence thecontents of the respective volumes are kept the same at all times.

After carrying the processing described above, the storage managementserver 60 returns to step S71 and again judges whether or not thereexists an unimplemented action. Furthermore, if it is judged at step S73that the type of action is an action other than creation of a replica,then the prescribed processing corresponding to the type of action isexecuted (S77), whereupon the procedure returns, similarly, to step S71.

At step S71, it is judged that there is no unimplemented action left,then the storage management server 60 terminates the action scriptexecution processing.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing one example of the state of the volumeattribute management table T2 in the respective layers during the courseof the data relocation processing according to the present embodiment.FIG. 30( a) shows an initial state, in which three volumes matching theessential attributes (capacity and emulation type) are registered. Ofthese, the volume having a logical ID of “001” holds user data, and thevolumes having logical IDs of “006” and “007” have an empty state. Inthis state, the volume having a logical ID of “001” is taken as themovement source and the volume having the logical ID of “006” is takenas the movement destination, and data relocation accompanied by creationof a replica is instructed.

FIG. 30( b) shows a state where the volume having the logical ID “007”is selected as a reserved volume for a replica, in the replica volumereserve processing (S6). The use status of the volume “007” is“reserved”, and the value “001”, which is the logical ID of the sourcevolume, is set at the “pair” attribute of volume “007”.

FIG. 30( c) shows a state where the data relocation processing hasterminated. After copying data from the source volume to the destinationvolume, the access paths (logical IDs) of the two volumes are switched,and at this point, the logical ID of the destination volume becomes“001”. The volume having a logical ID of “007” holds a replica of thisvolume, and the source and replica volumes are referenced to each otherby their “pair” attributes.

In this way, in the present embodiment, if a desired storage layer ispreviously specified as a replica creation destination in the actionsassociated with a storage layer, and a data relocation process is thenimplemented, then in the sequence of data relocation processing, it ispossible to create a replica of the moved data, automatically, inanother storage layer (or in the same storage layer as the relocationdestination layer). Thereby, it is possible to define storage layers ina flexible and highly efficient way, by, for instance, indicating thecreation of a replica to a low-cost layer, as part of the definition ofa high-reliability layer.

1. A computer system comprising: a storage system including a pluralityof physical storage drives and a controller providing a plurality ofvolumes, where the controller uses a plurality of storage regionsprovided by the plurality of physical storage drives as a plurality oflogical storage regions of the plurality of volumes; and a managementcomputer configured to: (A) receive information for specifying a sourcevolume among the plurality of volumes; (B) receive a migrationcondition; (C) select a candidate volume satisfying the migrationcondition among the plurality of volumes excluding the source volume;(D) if the candidate volume is selected according to (C), instruct thestorage system to execute a data migration from the source volume to thecandidate volume; and (E) if the candidate volume is not selectedaccording to (C): (E1) extract a portion of the plurality of physicalstorage drives satisfying the migration condition; (E2) instruct thestorage system to execute a creation of a volume, using empty regions ofthe storage regions provided by the extracted portion of the pluralityof physical storage drives as logical storage regions; and (E3) instructthe storage system to execute a data migration from the source volume tothe created volume.
 2. A computer system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a virtualization unit which manages a plurality ofidentifiers used to access the plurality of volumes, wherein anidentifier used to access the source volume is assigned to the candidatevolume instead of the source volume, if the data is migrated accordingto (D), and wherein an identifier used to access the source volume isassigned to the created volume instead of the source volume, if the datais migrated according to (E3).
 3. A computer system according to claim1, wherein if the data is migrated according to (D), data of thecandidate volume is copied from a related logical storage region toanother logical storage region, and wherein if the data is migratedaccording to (E3), data of the created volume is copied from a relatedlogical storage region to another logical storage region.
 4. A computersystem according to claim 1, wherein if the data is migrated accordingto (D), an access attribute of the candidate volume is set as read-only,and wherein if the data is migrated according to (E3), an accessattribute of the created volume is set as read-only.
 5. A computersystem according to claim 1, wherein the management computer receives acriteria of a plurality of storage classes associated with the pluralityof volumes, manages attribute information for each of the plurality ofvolumes, and sets the plurality of storage classes configured by theplurality of volumes based on the attribute information.
 6. A computersystem according to claim 5, wherein the management computer manages theattribute information which is dynamically changed.
 7. A computer systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the management computer manages amigration group configured by a portion of the plurality of volumes,wherein when the management computer receives information specifying themigration group as a plurality of source volumes among the plurality ofvolumes, the management computer selects a plurality of destinationvolumes, associated with one of a plurality of storage classes, amongthe plurality of volumes other than the plurality of source volumes,wherein data of the plurality of source volumes in the migration groupis migrated from the logical storage regions related to the plurality ofsource volumes to the logical storage regions related to the pluralityof destination volumes, wherein after migration of the data from thelogical storage regions related to the plurality of source volumes tothe logical storage regions related to the plurality of destinationvolumes, an operation is executed for each of the plurality ofdestination volumes.
 8. A computer system according to claim 7, whereinthe management computer specifies a portion of volumes related to eachother from the plurality of the volumes, and the migration group isconfigured by the specified portion of volumes.
 9. A computer systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the management computer specifies aportion of volumes used by a same application program from the pluralityof the volumes, and the migration group is configured by the specifiedportion of volumes.
 10. A data migration method in a computer systemhaving a storage system including a plurality of physical storage drivesand a controller providing a plurality of volumes, where the controlleruses a plurality of storage regions provided by the plurality ofphysical storage drives as a plurality of logical storage regions of theplurality of volumes, and a management computer, the data migrationmethod comprising the steps of: (A) receiving information for specifyinga source volume among the plurality of volumes; (B) receiving amigration condition; (C) selecting a candidate volume satisfying themigration condition among the plurality of volumes excluding the sourcevolume; (D) if the candidate volume is selected according to (C), to thestorage system, instructing a data migration from the source volume tothe candidate volume; and (E) if the candidate volume is not selectedaccording to (C): (E1) extracting a portion of the plurality of physicalstorage drives satisfying the migration condition; (E2) instructing thestorage system to execute a creation of a volume, using empty regions ofthe storage regions provided by the extracted portion of the pluralityof physical storage drives as logical storage regions; and (E3)instructing the storage system to execute a data migration to thestorage system from the source volume to the created volume.
 11. A datamigration method according to claim 10, further comprising: managing, bya virtualization unit, a plurality of identifiers used to access theplurality of volumes, wherein an identifier used to access the sourcevolume is assigned to the candidate volume instead of the source volume,if the data is migrated according to (D), and wherein an identifier usedto access the source volume is assigned to the created volume instead ofthe source volume, if the data is migrated according to (E3).
 12. A datamigration method according to claim 10, wherein if the data is migratedaccording to (D), copying data of the candidate volume from a relatedlogical storage region to another logical storage region, and wherein ifthe data is migrated according to (E3), copying data of the createdvolume from a related logical storage region to another logical storageregion.
 13. A data migration method according to claim 10, wherein ifthe data is migrated according to (D), setting an access attribute ofthe candidate volume as read-only, and wherein if the data is migratedaccording to (E3), setting an access attribute of the created volume asread-only.
 14. A data migration method according to claim 10, furthercomprising: receiving a criteria of a plurality of storage classesassociated with the plurality of volumes; managing attribute informationfor each of the plurality of volumes; and setting the plurality ofstorage classes configured by the plurality of volumes based on theattribute information.
 15. A data migration method according to claim14, wherein the management computer manages the attribute informationwhich is dynamically changed.
 16. A data migration method according toclaim 10, further comprising: managing, by the management computer, amigration group configured by a portion of the plurality of volumes;when the management computer receives information specifying themigration group as a plurality of source volumes among the plurality ofvolumes, selecting, by the management computer, a plurality ofdestination volumes, associated with one of a plurality of storageclasses, among the plurality of volumes other than the plurality ofsource volumes; migrating data of the plurality of source volumes in themigration group from the logical storage regions related to theplurality of source volumes to the logical storage regions related tothe plurality of destination volumes; and after migrating the data fromthe logical storage regions related to the plurality of source volumesto the logical storage regions related to the plurality of destinationvolumes, executing an operation for each of the plurality of destinationvolumes.
 17. A data migration method according to claim 16, wherein themanagement computer specifies a portion of volumes related to each otherfrom the plurality of the volumes, and the migration group is configuredby the specified portion of volumes.
 18. A data migration methodaccording to claim 16, wherein the management computer specifies aportion of volumes used by a same application program from the pluralityof the volumes, and the migration group is configured by the specifiedportion of volumes.